The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed to 6.7 per cent in February, compared to the same month in 2023, on account of poor performance of some sectors like fertiliser, according to official data released on Thursday.

However, the growth rate is higher than January this year.

The growth of eight core sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- was 4.1 per cent in January.

It was 7.4 per cent in February 2023.

Cumulatively also, the growth rate in the output of these sectors slowed to 7.7 per cent in April-January this fiscal against 8.2 per cent in April-February 2022-23.

The output growth of fertiliser was in the negative zone.

The eight core sectors contribute 40.27 per cent to the country's Index of Industrial Production (IIP).